Chapter 6

Rosalie was perched on the roof of the house as she gazed at the sun rising in the distance. Clouds and fog were already moving into the region, threatening to overshadow the light any minute, and she relished in the quiet that surrounded her. Jacob, Leah, and Josh departed in the wee hours of the morning to go get some sleep at home and Seth and Kaya retired to their cottage. Esme and Carlisle returned before sunrise, but were now in the backyard planting new trees. Emmett and Zach were the only two inside the house and a serene smile flitted across her lips as they came to join her on the roof.

"Are you still mad at me," asked Zach as he scooted closer to his mother and she kissed his cheek.

"I am not mad at you, simply worried. I know you want to be here with Josh, but we still have not resolved the issue of your temper," said Rosalie. Emmett chuckled.

"Yea baby boy, I think your mom and I rubbed off on you too much. You have her temper and my willingness to fight." Rosalie glared at her husband and he shrugged.

"What, it is true," defended Emmett.

"So Zach, what should we do about that," asked Rosalie and Zach looked down.

"I can't help it. I am never going to be okay with someone calling you names, mom."

"And trust me, there is a part of me that is very proud of you for that, but not if that means you are going to try to harm every human that speaks about me in a way you do not like."

"It isn't your fault, baby boy. Your mother and I kept you pretty sheltered over the years. You have rarely interacted with humans and when you did, it was only for a few minutes. Plus, you were brought up to be polite and respectful like a gentleman, but not all males are like that, especially teenage boys. Man, when I was a kid, my brothers and I used to razz each other all the time. We would make all types of jokes that I am sure you would find pretty offensive."

"Really," asked Zach and Emmett guffawed.

"Are you kidding? We were constantly poking fun at each other, trying to get under the skin of one another and our friends. We also got into a lot of fights, but I was a human. I didn't have to worry about breaking them with one flick of my wrist."

"We used to do that in the pack too," called Seth as he and Kaya made their way toward the house. Zach, Rosalie, and Emmett leapt off of the roof to greet them.

"What are you doing here so early? I figured you would sleep in," questioned Rosalie and Seth grinned from ear to ear.

"Esme promised to make us breakfast. Besides, I want to help Zach learn how to control his temper. He has to face Jeremy tomorrow at school, so it is a good thing he is a quick learner," said Seth and Rosalie glanced down at her watch with a smile.

"Oh don't worry. I have made sure the issue will be handled before Zach has to go back to school tomorrow," assured Rosalie and Zach eyed his mother cautiously as they heard the pitter patter of feet. Carlisle and Esme joined them outside as the sound drew closer. Zach groaned when he saw Jasper, Alice, Edward, Bella, Renesmee, and Nahuel emerge from the forest.

"Aw come on mom, did you have to tell everyone," he whined and she winked at him.

"Two altercations with Jeremy and one with the wolves, I figured it was time to call in the Calvary," explained Rosalie. Alice skipped over to her nephew and kissed his cheek.

"Don't worry. It will be painless….for you anyways," she said cryptically and Edward chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Zach.

"It has been a week and you are already in trouble. I told you it was inevitable," teased Edward.

"Uncle Edward, it isn't a big deal. Nothing really happened. Besides, Josh is the one that got into it with the pack."

"Didn't you knock a drunk human on his butt," reminded Edward and Alice nodded with a knowing smile.

"Twice," she sang.

"Hey, the first time, he tripped…..the second time….okay that was a bit more forceful," confessed Zach. Edward's eyes widened as he read Rosalie's mind.

"Oh come on, you cannot possibly think this is my fault," argued Edward and Rosalie smirked at him.

"None of this would have gotten out of hand if you wouldn't have taught him how to woo girls with poetry. That boy came after my son because some human girl is smitten with him now," scolded Rosalie and Zach smiled smugly.

"The poetry worked like a charm, Uncle Edward."

"Not helping me, Zach," whispered Edward and Bella giggled at her mate's discomfort as Rosalie chastised him in her mind.

"I told him teaching Zach how to dazzle girls would get him in trouble," added Bella and Esme hugged her.

"How are Charlie and Sue doing," questioned Esme.

"Good, they are happy to have the island to themselves for a bit. They enjoy the peace and quiet," explained Bella.

"I am sure they are enjoying more than that at the moment. The lust rolling off the two of them makes it very hard to concentrate," revealed Jasper and Seth cringed.

"Yet another reason I am glad to be away from the island right now. No one needs to see that," said Seth. Kaya grinned as Nahuel pulled her in for a big embrace and kissed the top of her head.

"I must admit it is odd not having you around," confessed Nahuel and Kaya winked at him.

"I am sure you and Renesmee are finding ways to entertain each other while I am gone," assured Kaya.

"I know we are," informed Seth, which made Nahuel cringe.

"Too much information, Seth," warned Nahuel and Esme giggled at the playful glares the two men were giving each other.

"I have breakfast ready inside if you and Renesmee are hungry, Nahuel," offered Esme and Nahuel kissed her cheek in thanks.

"I didn't miss his comments about my baby sister, but I have missed your cooking," said Nahuel.

"It has only been a week. Are you really that spoiled," teased Seth and Renesmee smirked.

"This coming from a guy that cannot go without cookies for more than a day," teased Renesmee as she walked inside with Nahuel, Kaya, Seth, and Esme. Edward pinched the bridge of his nose as Rosalie continued to chastise him in her mind.

"I did not come here to be scolded by you, Rose. Come on Bella, let's go inside. Esme wants me to play her lullaby anyways. It has been a while since I have played it here," said Edward and Bella giggled as Rosalie continued to scowl at Edward. Bella and Edward disappeared into the house and Rosalie was about to follow, but Jasper stopped her.

"I believe we have more important issues at hand, Rose. Alice told me about what has been going on and I do think I can help Zach. If anyone here can understand how hard it is to remain in control around humans, it is me," informed Jasper and Emmett's boisterous laugh boomed around them.

"Yea, but my baby boy isn't trying to eat them. He just wants to put them in their place when they disrespect his mother. It is a bit different, Jazz," teased Emmett. Jasper ignored the comment and pulled Zach over to him. Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Carlisle watched from the porch as Zach began to pout.

"I don't need to work on my control. I have been told since I was a kid that it is important to stay in control of my power. I get it," argued Zach.

"Hate to burst your bubble, nephew, but you are still a kid and the circumstances are different now. It is one thing to know how to harness your power in battles, but this is not the same. Humans are fragile. Even if you manage to control your blood lust around them, you still must be aware of their proximity to you at all times."

"But I am not tempted by their blood, not even a little," said Zach and Carlisle smiled proudly at his grandson.

"I have watched him around humans even before we moved here. I believe he is already desensitized to their scent. Zachary has never tasted human blood before and he has no reason to crave anything but the blood of animals. It truly is remarkable," informed Carlisle.

"Yes, but I think since he doesn't have to worry about such things, he is also a bit too comfortable being close to humans. While in school, we had to learn to keep our distance. Zach never had to worry about that in the past and since he does not stress about being tempted over their blood, he is willing to put himself in situations we never would have," explained Jasper and Emmett nodded in agreement.

"Like being surrounded by them at a party," said Emmett.

"Exactly, but Zach, just because you aren't tempted by them in such a way doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your guard up around them. We are going to have to teach you how to deal with humans trying to confront you," stated Jasper. Rosalie frowned in confusion.

"That is something I do not understand. We never had to worry about making sure humans kept their distance from us. It is in their natural instincts to avoid us. They are technically our prey. That boy should know better than to approach Zach," said Rosalie.

"Not if Zach isn't giving off that signal to him, we always had our guard up at school. Rose, you and I did whatever we could to keep humans away from us. I wanted to make sure there was never a reason for them to get too close to me, but Zach never feels the need to do that. He does the opposite. Remember, we can lure our prey to us as well and it seems he does that without realizing it," informed Jasper.

"Wait, at the party, after Jeremy made me mad, it is like something snapped inside of me and as soon as I made it clear that I wasn't amused by his comment, I could tell he was terrified," admitted Zach.

"You put your guard up and reminded him why he should be instinctively afraid of you," assured Jasper and Alice giggled.

"Oh trust me, Jeremy isn't going to be a problem anymore, but Zach still has a serious issue. It is way too easy to push his buttons," said Alice.

"Aunt Alice, I can control my temper," defended Zach and she smirked.

"We'll see about that. Oh Seth," called Alice and Zach frowned in confusion as Seth joined them on the porch with his plate of food.

"What's up pixie," asked Seth before taking a bite of his bacon.

"You mentioned before that you and the boys in the pack used to tease each other, right," asked Alice and Seth nodded.

"Yea, sometimes fights broke out, but it made me grow pretty thick skin, why?"

"Jazzy, let Seth try first," instructed Alice and Jasper chuckled.

"If you say so, darlin'. Zach, I know you think you can control your temper, but we are going to show you what the problem is. It isn't enough for me to just make you angry. We need to understand the trigger and so do you. It is the only way for you to overcome it," explained Jasper and Alice winked at Seth.

"Go ahead, Seth. Try to make him mad," suggested Alice and Seth grinned mischievously as he put his plate down on the porch.

"Is this really necessary," asked Zach and Seth chuckled.

"What's wrong, Z? Afraid you can't control your temper, mama's boy?"

"You call me mama's boy all the time."

"Then why did it strike a nerve when Jeremy said it? Josh told me how you reacted to being called that."

"It was different with Jeremy. He was trying to be a jerk. When you say it, it is funny and ironic because you are a mama's boy too." Seth smiled.

"Okay, fine, but what about when a kid from school like Jeremy says something inappropriate about your mother? What did Jeremy say? Something about that's not what she said last night?"

"Seth, this is ridiculous," grumbled Zach. Seth smiled apologetically at Rosalie.

"I don't mean anything I am about to say," announced Seth and Rosalie winked at him.

"Trust me, I was in high school for years with super hearing. I have heard it all," assured Rosalie and Seth winked back at her before turning his focus back to Zach.

"Hey Zach, you must be a vampire because you suck." Zach rolled his eyes.

"Nice try, but I am not buying it, Seth."

"No really, you suck….oh and your mama does too, but she charges," quipped Seth. Alice winced as she watched her vision come true and Seth went flying through the air. He crashed into a tree with a loud grunt as the air was knocked out of him. Kaya was outside in an instant to tend to her mate and Zach cringed.

"Oops," said Zach with an apologetic smile as Seth made it to his feet and dusted himself off. Rosalie's jaw dropped in utter shock, but Emmett was too busy rolling on the ground in laughter to notice.

"It is not funny, Emmett," scolded Rosalie, but Emmett continued laughing. Zach rushed over to Seth and checked for any injuries.

"Are you okay," asked Zach and Seth nodded as Kaya looked him over in concern as well.

"Yea, lucky for me I think my body is used to being hurled into stuff by you. I can take it. I don't think humans like Jeremy will fare as well though. Rose, we have a problem," stated Seth and Jasper chuckled.

"He will be fine. Don't worry Rose. By tomorrow, I will have him ready. Come on Zach, let's go for a hunt," suggested Jasper and Zach apologized to Seth again before disappearing into the forest with his uncle.

The two of them hunted elk and roamed deep within the forest for over an hour before Jasper finally addressed why they were in the forest in the first place. Zach scaled a tree and settled onto a branch as he shook his head.

"I can't believe I did that. I love Seth. He is my big bro. Uncle Jasper, I thought I had my power under control."

"You do, but not your anger. Zach, your gift is connected to your emotions. It is connected to every part of you and that is what makes it so powerful, but also so dangerous. I am not worried though. You are a good kid. You know what the trigger is now and how to be on guard. That is also why I think going to school will be good for you this year," admitted Jasper.

"Really, I figured you of all people would think it was a bad idea for me to surround myself with humans."

"Don't get me wrong. I am not exactly an advocate for immortals being in high school forever, but there are things that only can be learned through experience."

"So you think this year will be a good thing, even though I already have gotten into trouble?"

"Yes, I do and so does your Aunt Alice. Even the great Zach McCarty Cullen needs a reminder from time to time about how it feels to be powerless. That is what Josh has had to learn too. At Forks High School, he is not the son of an alpha and you are not a member of the most powerful coven in the vampire world. You just have to be a teenager and that means facing kids like Jeremy and learning how to deal with them without using your power. You will be just fine though."

"I am not so sure," confessed Zach and Jasper chuckled as he joined him in the tree.

"I am because I am sure of you."

"Thanks and I have learned my lesson. No more using my power at school at all, even to trip jerks like Jeremy."

"And?"

"And if someone tries to argue with me, I need to just walk away because it is too tempting for me to want to use my power against them."

"Never put yourself in a situation that you may not be able to control. Now you understand your trigger and what happened, but on the bright side, you obviously showed some restraint against Jeremy."

"That is true. I didn't throw him into a tree, so that's something right?"

"Yes, but you need to be more careful. You have been here for a week and almost had to leave already," teased Jasper. Zach chuckled and hopped out of the tree.

"Hey, at least I didn't break the treaty like Josh almost did. We will do better though. Josh really wants me here. We will figure it out," assured Zach and Jasper nodded as he jumped from the tree.

"Come on, let's head back."

"Wait, that's it? No, close your eyes and clear your mind, nephew? No, focus on your surroundings, what do you hear," asked Zach as he mimicked Jasper's voice. Jasper ruffled his hair with a smile.

"You want some advice, fine. When a kid says something about your mother, don't throw them into anything. It makes you look uncivilized." Zach's booming laugh echoed around them and Jasper playfully nudged him as they headed back toward Forks.

Jasper, Alice, Edward, Bella, Renesmee, and Nahuel only stayed until nightfall before heading home. Zach spent the night hunting with his parents and found himself nervous on Monday morning when he heard Josh's truck coming down the driveway. Rosalie kissed his cheek and Emmett hugged him before waving goodbye to Josh.

"Bye you two, have fun at school. No starting wars with the pack or tripping humans," called Emmett and the boys rolled their eyes as he snickered at them.

Josh took in a deep breath as they pulled into the parking lot of the high school fifteen minutes later and found a space for his truck.

"Are you nervous," asked Josh and Zach nodded.

"My Aunt Alice said that it will be fine, but the last time we were around these kids, I was about to fight and Seth had to come get me. What if they look at me like I am some sort of freak or something?"

"Then we will be freaks together," assured Josh.

"Not helping, J," said Zach and Josh chuckled.

"Hey come on, it is high school. Who cares if they think we are weird. It is our last year anyways."

"My only year, the year that I decided to endure for you," reminded Zach.

"Yes, so you keep telling me."

"I am just saying. You owe me, big time."

"Can we actually get through the year before you tell me that I owe you for it," questioned Josh as he grabbed his bag and got out of the car. All eyes were on them as they walked through the parking lot and Zach smirked.

"Déjà vu," whispered Zach. They saw Jeremy heading in the same direction as them, but he abruptly stopped when he saw Zach. He took a few steps backward and averted his eyes as they passed him, which made Zach chuckle.

"I guess he learned his lesson," teased Zach and Josh scoffed.

"Yea, that tends to happen when you get growled at by someone that can literally drain the blood from your body. Uh oh, incoming," whispered Josh. Zach gulped as some of Jeremy's friends approached them.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. We are just trying to get to class," said Zach and the three boys smiled at him.

"Hey man, chill, we just wanted to apologize for Jeremy. The dude was really wasted Friday night and things got out of hand. Coach Taggert found out and suspending him for the first game of the season, but he is lucky he got off that easy. We just want you to know that we are cool with you and we hope you don't have hard feelings with us because of him," explained Adam and Josh's eyes widened at the admission.

"Yea, no problem, don't worry about it," said Josh.

"Good, we just don't want you to think we all are like that. Jeremy totally lost it that night. He even said he thought he heard you growl at him. I don't know how much he had to drink, but he was obviously out of his mind," added Craig. Zach and Josh glanced at each other before forcing out a laugh.

"Yea, obviously," agreed Zach.

"Well, we better get to class, but we should hang later. See ya," said Adam before going inside with his friends. Zach frowned in confusion.

"So now they like us? Humans are so weird," he grumbled and Josh nudged him.

"Speaking of humans, here comes another one. I wonder if Courtney is pissed about us ruining her party," whispered Josh. Courtney jogged over to them and they were surprised to see her bright smile.

"Hey Zach, Josh, what did you do this weekend? I mean besides have to deal with Jeremy's drama at the party," questioned Courtney and Josh shrugged.

"Oh, not much, it was really pretty boring," said Josh.

"Yea, a regular snooze fest," added Zach.

"Well maybe we can change that next weekend. Some of my friends want to go to the movies in Port Angeles. It would be great if you could come. You don't have to worry about Jeremy showing up. His parents found out about the alcohol and were furious. I am pretty sure he is grounded for life. So, will you be there?" Josh turned to Zach for his answer and Zach politely smiled at Courtney.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think you have the wrong idea about me. Courtney, you are sweet, but….."

"He has a girlfriend," interrupted Josh and Zach frowned at his friend's sudden outburst.

"Josh, what are you….."

"Forgive him for not saying it sooner, but they weren't sure if they wanted to do the long distance thing until this weekend," explained Josh and Zach slowly began to catch on.

"Right, um, my girlfriend lives in Anchorage."

"But when you stood up for me, I thought that meant you felt how I did," pouted Courtney and Zach smiled sympathetically at her.

"I did what any good guy would do if they saw Jeremy acting like that. I am sorry if I gave you mixed signals. I really do love my girlfriend."

"Well she is a lucky girl. What is her name?" Josh's eyes widened at the question and he racked his brain for a name to cover for his friend, but Zach already had one in mind.

"Tess," he blurted out and Josh snickered.

"Well, I hope Tess knows how lucky she is to have such a sweet, devoted boyfriend. If she ever forgets that, give me a call," said Courtney with a flirtatious smile before walking away and Josh let out a low whistle.

"She has it so bad for you, Z."

"A girlfriend in Alaska, really, J?"

"Hey, I just saved your butt. You don't want the girls around here to think you are some womanizer that leads girls on, do you? Besides, now they will know you are off limits."

"Yea, I guess you have a point. Come on, let's get to class," urged Zach as they walked into the school and Josh smiled knowingly at him.

"Oh don't think you are off the hook, just yet. Tess, really," teased Josh.

"It was the first name that came to mind," defended Zach.

"I am sure it was. You better not let your mom hear you talking like that," warned Josh and they laughed as they entered their first class for the day.

The school day passed without incident for the boys. In fact, it was better than they expected it to be. Word of Zach's Alaskan girlfriend spread through the school like wildfire and while girls were disappointed that he was taken, Zach was surprised at how much they still flirted with him. He was relieved to have an excuse to decline their advances though and Josh was happy to swoop in to speak with them when he did. Jeremy kept his distance from them and Josh and Zach had no problem doing the same. After school, they quickly hopped into Josh's truck and called their parents as they headed to La Push.

"We don't have any homework, mom. I promise," assured Josh as they spoke with their parents through the speaker phone.

"You still need to check in with us every couple of hours, okay? The last time you were around the pack, things were not exactly easygoing," warned Leah.

"We will mom. Drew texted me and said to meet them at the cliffs after school, so we can go cliff diving. Talk to you later, love you guys, bye," said Josh and Zach said his goodbyes as well before Josh could hurry their parents off the phone.

"Jeez, you would think they would trust us by now," grumbled Josh and Zach gave him a look.

"Yea, I don't know why they would worry. It isn't like you attacked a member of the pack or anything."

"Or like you used your power on a human," added Josh.

"Well, I still blame you for that one."

"How do you figure, Z?"

"If you wouldn't have been anti-La Push, we could have been hanging out there instead of at Courtney's."

"Fair enough, I will give you that," conceded Josh.

"Really because that was a stretch even for me." Josh laughed.

"Yes, it was but I didn't exactly do my job as your best friend and warn you about Jeremy or high school drama or how getting in good with Courtney could cause some problems. I have been thinking about it and maybe one of the ways we can spend our time here is trying to get to know the pack. You have never once hesitated to embrace your world. You run around in Alaska, hang with the Denalis, and even mingle with the rulers of the vampire world. I guess I am starting to realize that Forks isn't a big part of my world. The kids at Forks High know nothing about me and while I don't think La Push will be the main place I want to be in forever, my parents are right. It is a part of me, so maybe I should embrace it more."

"Well duh, how long have I been telling you that?"

"Shut up," chuckled Josh and Zach grinned as they pulled up to the cliffs where several motorcycles and trucks were parked. Sam walked over to shake their hands as they got out of the truck and soon the rest of the pack joined them.

"Welcome back to La Push, Zach. I know the bonfire didn't go as planned, but we figured we could try something else that the boys like to do," suggested Sam and Zach grinned from ear to ear as Daniel jumped off of the cliff. He dived into the ocean and Josh winked at his best friend before heading to the edge of the cliff.

"Okay Z, watch me own this cliff," called Josh as he took off his shirt. He effortlessly did a backflip as he jumped off the cliff and the rest of the boys clapped and whistled for Josh as he resurfaced. Sam clapped Zach on the back.

"You're up, Cullen," said Sam and Zach quickly took off his shirt.

"Oh I got this. Seth takes me cliff diving all the time, especially in Alaska. Now those are some cliffs," called Zach before flipping off the cliff. Drew gave Sam a look, but the alpha shook his head vehemently.

"I don't think so. We have been over this. My days of jumping off cliffs are behind me," assured Sam.

"Come on, do it for Zach and Josh. This is a special occasion. Jump, jump, jump," chanted Drew and the rest of the pack joined in. Zach and Josh heckled Sam from the water below and the older man finally gave in. They cheered as he peeled off his shirt and chuckled.

"Take notes boys, this is how it is done," boasted Sam before diving off the cliff. The boys hooted and hollered as Sam resurfaced from the water and teased Zach and Josh about having a better dive than theirs.

Allie took in a shaky breath as she looked on in confusion from the distance. She was sitting on the beach with one of her friends when they heard the hooting and hollering echoing off the rocks and cliffs. Her friend continued to gossip as if nothing was out of the norm, but Allie's eyes were trained on the figures far away on the cliffs.

"Is that….my dad," asked Allie and her friend shrugged.

"Maybe, I mean he does hang with some of the boys from the rez a lot. Mia and I saw them driving out of town just the other night."

"Don't you think that is weird? I mean my dad isn't exactly young."

"I don't know. He is an Elder of the tribe. Maybe he just wants to make sure those boys are staying in line."

"By jumping off of a cliff with them? I am not buying it. Something is up. I don't know what it is or why he feels the need to hide it from me, but ever since I have been back, he has been really secretive."

"Your dad has always seemed like a private guy. I am sure it is nothing."

"Or something and I have a feeling that those boys know exactly what it is," said Allie. Her friend simply shrugged and sipped her soda, but Allie was determined to find out what her father was up to.